The thing about handhelds that I just remembered is that you can't always just keep going 'till the next save point, so I suppose there'd have to be something done to the way your games handle saving/ loading. I mean, I can't look for the next save point for three minutes when the train is suddenly at its station and I have to go.

Maybe add a feature where you can save and quit instantly, but it'll save at the previous save-point. That way, you won't have to save at every point just for safety's sake (or you won't have to save before every battle in starscape) but you can't "cheat" by getting saves where you shouldn't.

Maybe I'm crazy, but I think that the max time it should take to save your game and shut off your handheld is about a full minute or less.

Maybe add a feature where you can save and quit instantly, but it'll save at the previous save-point. That way, you won't have to save at every point just for safety's sake (or you won't have to save before every battle in starscape) but you can't "cheat" by getting saves where you shouldn't.

You could have a separate 'suspend' save point - not a real save, maybe don't increase saves count even, but can only be reloaded once and then it gets deleted.

Unfortunately if you don't increase save count then that can be abused by the dedicated haxors. But probably no more than just hacking your save-file anyway.

Wow, fingers crossed that's true (although, it seemes weird that it might cost less than an xbox360??!)

I wonder if this is actually tied into XNA? From what I hear, it's close to finished, and from what I hear, if you use XNA to develop your title it should be a case of a few minor changes and a recompile to get it running on 360.

Maybe add a feature where you can save and quit instantly, but it'll save at the previous save-point. That way, you won't have to save at every point just for safety's sake (or you won't have to save before every battle in starscape) but you can't "cheat" by getting saves where you shouldn't.

You could have a separate 'suspend' save point - not a real save, maybe don't increase saves count even, but can only be reloaded once and then it gets deleted.

Unfortunately if you don't increase save count then that can be abused by the dedicated haxors. But probably no more than just hacking your save-file anyway.

That can be fixed.

Simply tie the "freeze point" data into a vital file.

No one wants to cut their head off so they can live twice

Quote:

Wow, fingers crossed that's true (although, it seemes weird that it might cost less than an xbox360??!)

I wonder if this is actually tied into XNA? From what I hear, it's close to finished, and from what I hear, if you use XNA to develop your title it should be a case of a few minor changes and a recompile to get it running on 360.

Well, Here is hoping, I'm pretty sure that 100 USD and a bit of a developer background check is nothing..

Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 3:41 pm Post subject: Probably one of the last PC games I buy

I've found lately that PC gaming is no longer worth the the price of admission. I've been using basically the same computer (with minor upgrades) for the past four/five years, and have no intention of upgrading in order to play games. A large part of the problem is that their aren't as many things being released any more that I'm interested in. I've never been a mainstream gamer. Pretty much every single one of the games I really enjoyed failed at retail, and most of the studios that made them are now defunct. Publishers seem to have learned from their "mistakes"; non-indie games for the PC that interest me have become exceedingly rare. In times past, I would read a wide variety of reviews and keep a list of games that I wanted to get as soon as my PC was able to handle them. It used to be a long list. Now it's pretty much empty.

I have found hope and fun on consoles, however. I love my Nintendo DS, the Wii looks promising, and there are some promising games on the other systems too (like Okami, and Bioshock). There may or may not be a future for PC gaming, but my future gaming will be almost exclusively on consoles. If you coninue developing exclusively for PC, I hope you don't suddenly discover that your audience has left the platform for greener pastures.